Alachua County business announcements for the week of June 17, 2013

Sunday

Jun 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Alachua County business announcements for the week of June 17, 2013.

Bread of the Mighty Food Bank announced that it recently received a grant of $30,000 from the Nationwide Insurance Foundation. The food bank received the funds as a part of a $1.25 million donation that was made to the national office of Feeding America and 19 of its member food banks.

The Gainesville Fisher House Foundation was recently awarded $4,000 from Enterprise Holdings Inc. Rick Fabiani, the foundation's president, accepted the donation on behalf of the foundation at the site of the new North Florida/South Georgia Fisher House.

The President's Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition recently selected Fitz Koehler to receive a 2013 Community Leadership Award. Koehler, who holds a Master of Exercise and Sports Sciences from UF, is the president of the Gainesville-based company Fitzness International LLC and founder of The Morning Mile, a before-school walking and running program.

The Florida Bar recently honored 165 attorneys for 50 years of dedication to the practice of law at The Florida Bar's Annual Convention. Among those, the following two 8th Circuit attorneys were recognized: James Stacy Quincey, of Gainesville, and Kenneth Wayne Randall, of Alachua.

The Village, a senior living community in Gainesville, recently received national recognition and excellence awards from Professional Research Consultants, a health-care research and marketing firm. The community received 10 awards including but not limited to the following categories: as a place to work, senior leadership, overall empowerment, communication, and training and professional development.

Nineteen Suwannee River Basin agriculturists were recently recognized for their natural resource stewardship with a County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship award at the 13th annual CARES event, which honored farmers and ranchers from seven area counties who have implemented best management practices to maximize the conservation and protection of natural resources on their properties.

The following Gainesville-area Hampton Hotels were among 1,320 Hampton properties that have recently received a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award: Hampton Inn & Suites Gainesville — Downtown, 101 SE First Ave.; and Hampton Inn Gainesville, 4225 SW 40th Blvd. The accolade, which recognizes hospitality excellence, is given only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on the TripAdvisor website.

David Ballard, events coordinator for the City of Gainesville, was recently unanimously elected to serve on the Board of Directors for the Florida Festivals & Events Association, which works to promote and strengthen the festival industry in Florida.Ballard, who began working for the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Department in 2007, has since created several new programs, including Jest Fest! and the Thomas Center Theatre for Young Audiences.Ballard, who is perhaps best known for his stewardship of the popular Free Fridays concert series, came to work for the city after a successful career as a master puppeteer and theatrical artist.Ballard has created and produced puppetry and living history shows for the Smithsonian Institution, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the National Park Service and Walt Disney Productions.Ballard also worked in education and served on the theatre faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he taught while serving as artistic director of the university's Cracker-Box Puppet Theatre.

The Advertising Federation of Gainesville recently announced that the following new and returning members will be installed as members of the organization's board of directors for 2013-2014: Jennifer Norman, president elect; Kinnon Thomas, treasurer; Susan Meurlott, membership; Sue Wagner, president adviser; Wes Lindberg, communications; Kathy Staffa, secretary; Nick DeConna, programs chair; Eric Flagg, education chair; Tom Duffy, public service chair; and Hector Del Valle, ADDY chair.

The Gainesville Artisans' Guild Gallery, a cooperative art gallery of more than 50 regional artists, recently elected and appointed the following new officers and board of directors members for 2013-2014: Hannelore Kroger, CEO; Sharon Cates, president; Jeanne Bunting, vice president; Jacqui Collett, treasurer; Joyce Marie Lottinville, secretary.